I want to change the set working hours

Moses Ssesanga

Although my job is between 8am and 5pm, I work best after 2pm. Usually, I stay as late as 10pm working while everyone else clocks out between 4pm-6pm. Before 2pm, I am very unproductive. I have asked my employers severally to let me come in at 1pm and work up to 10pm but they insist on the traditional. How do I convince them to accept my proposal? Sam

Dear Sam,
You didn’t state the kind of work you do for me to understand whether there is no hindrance to collaboration with fellow employees when you work outside the known traditional working.
Technology has fortunately made work stations virtual. You no longer need to be physically present at your work station to be productive. However, this is sometimes difficult to achieve in some workplaces like factories, machine and vehicular operators, whose nature of work requires employees to be present at the work stations for work to progress.

However, that notwithstanding, you should try to find out why your employer specified the time you should be at the work premises. Some employers do that to ensure security of their premises from unauthorised access. The security gaps may be more pronounced at the times you prefer to work and accommodating you at the premises at such times may involve costs that the employer is unwilling to incur.

If you rule out any threats to the business and to your personal security when you clock out at odd hours, and probably the fact that other employees may also be working at the same time, you should then engage your employer by providing evidence of the quality of your productivity at the preferred hours and what the company is missing out by being inflexible. Your employer may most likely be attracted to your perspective when you can prove that you are not giving excuses to moonlight during the normal working hours.
Moses Ssesanga
Head Human Resource
NMG - Uganda
[email protected]